women in business Archives - Business Growth Partners

Megan and I attended the Rankin & Co ‘Women in Fashion and Design’ drinks and networking event on Thursday 3rd of May. The event was held at Misuzu’s, an authentic and delicious Japanese restaurant in the heart of Albert Park.

We were invited by Rob Roy Rankin, the Director of Rankin & Co, a law firm. At the event, Megan and I met a range of his work colleagues. We were also introduced to Rob’s contacts and clients who had known Rob for years.

Rob often hosts these evening event throughout each year as it’s an opportunity for Rob to introduce some of his fashion and design clients to all the attendees as well as networking with like minded individuals.

The venue was a suitable choice as the event was quite intimate and relaxing. All attendees sat around a curved table sharing stories and enjoying delicious food and wine that Rob had organised for the night.

Megan and myself were fortunate enough to receive an attendance gift, a stila matte lipstick from MECCA which we were extremely grateful for.

I attended the Yarra City Council Lunchbox Learning session on Thursday 30th of November. The topic of discussion was on how to make sales leads find you.

The Lunchbox Learning sessions are hosted by the Yarra City Council. They have been running for the past 4 years and are held at the last Thursday of each month.

The intent of these sessions are for local businesses to get together to share their knowledge, listen and learn to the speaker and to have the opportunity to network.

As it was a lunchtime event running from 12pm-1pm, attendees could bring their lunch to eat or there was tea, coffee, cold water and biscuits provided for all.
It was quite humid and the temperature was hot during the day so being greeted to a cold glass of water was a great start to the session!

I attended this event through my contact Umesh Ratanje from Brompton & Co.

The speaker was Nerissa Atkinson who is the Creative Director and co-Founder of The Revery, a Marketing Agency based in Richmond.

The topic was how to make sales leads find you, Nerissa focused on two aspects which were making sure your band appeals and knowing where your target audience is looking.

Nerissa discussed the importance of content marketing. Content helps convert your website visitors into customers.
For content marketing to be effective, it must be creative and insightful. This enables your business to build relationships and add value to your brand.

As lunch can be a busy time, the event went for 1 hour and a lot of attendees left exactly at 1pm to get back to work on time. Arriving about 15-20 minutes earlier than the event provides you with a good opportunity to network with the attendees before listening to the speaker. There were 7 attendees are the lunchtime event which provided for a small and intimate group.

The cost of the event is free. All Lunchbox Learning sessions are free and are worthwhile attending. It was an informal event, allowing the attendees to sit down, relax and listen to the speaker throughout a lunchtime learning session before heading back to a busy afternoon at work.

Location: Richmond Town Hall, 333 Bridge Road, Richmond, 3121

Highlight: The speaker Nerissa, provided us with some good insights and tips on content marketing.

Cost: All sessions are free and it was a worthwhile event

Hot tip: The group of attendees were friendly and the biscuits were delicious

The event I attended was to celebrate women in business. I attended the Women’s Leadership Breakfast which ran from 9am-10.30am. The event was held in a boardroom at One Roof on City Road. One Roof is a co-working business space for women and provided a relaxing and bright open space for our breakfast.

The event was hosted by Kelly Tsagournos who is a development and transformational coach. Her main focus is to empower and inspire women to thrive in their personal and professional lives.
Throughout these forums which Kelly hosts regularly. Kelly’s aim is to create a space for women who want to develop, grow and feel supported as well as making connections with like-minded women around them.

The topic of this breakfast event was owning your power in and through overwhelm. This session was to support women as we tackle the challenges, demands and opportunities that we face throughout our life. We started from the basics and discussed what the triggers and causes are of feeling overwhelmed, how we move through and manage this feeling as well as actions to be taken to reduce and prevent being overwhelmed. Acknowledging and accepting that we as individuals often will feel overwhelmed throughout difference stages of our life is important.

The catering for the breakfast event was great. As the event started at 9am, I already had breakfast beforehand and was not expecting much food to be on offer. However when I arrived, there was a substantial selection of food! The selection included fruits, muffins and ham, cheese and tomato toasties which all were eaten up. Beverages such as hot chocolate, coffee and tea were also available.

There was not much of an opportunity to network throughout or after the event. The event was more of a informal group discussion where everyone had the chance to speak. It was a small, intimate group of women which provided a encouraging space to talk. Majority of the women at the breakfast had been to Kelly’s previous events before and were quite good friends with Kelly.

Location: One Roof, 77-79 City Road, Southbank, 3006

Highlight: The event was catered well for a breakfast and the topic of discussion was interesting

This event was held at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins from 10am to 12pm. The event featured a sit down breakfast where there was a small muffin selection and a choice of a hot beverage to bring to your seat.

98% of Victorian businesses are small businesses with less than 20 employees. The key themes and discussions of this event were to explore what we need to do to keep small businesses competitive and create sustainable jobs in Victoria for the future. Discussing the importance of growth within Victorian small businesses into 2018 and beyond.

There was a panel of three who shared their views on the Victoria Summit Forum. These three business leaders who were on the panel were Tarah Barzanji (Principal of AlphaBeta Advisors), Matteo Pignatelli (Owner of Matteo’s restaurant) and Ray Keefe (Managing Director of Successful Endeavours).
The panel members discussed their perspectives on how to keep small businesses in Victoria competitive, what needs to be acted upon to encourage sustainable job growth and if the current education and training system meet the needs of the small businesses in Victoria. There was an opportunity for the audience to also ask questions to the panel.

The attendees of the event were a mix of industry professionals and small business owners. It was quite difficult to network as was a seated event and there was not much time before or after the discussion begun to meet someone new at the event.

The event was held at Sandringham Yacht Club. There was time before the event started to network with other attendees. The event featured a sit down breakfast whilst listening to a panel of women who were in the franchising industry. These women spoke about their personal experiences in dealing with staff who have depression and other mental health conditions. Mental health is not a barrier to running a successful business, and it was evident from the discussion that it is something that needs to be managed rather than ignored.

Attendees of the event were a mix of franchisees, franchisors and industry professionals who support this industry. Given the Franchise Council of Australia is a member based organisation it seemed as though a lot of people in the room knew each other, which made networking quite difficult as someone new to these events.

The food at the event was good, however the portions were very small.

Location: Sandringham Yacht Club, Jetty Rd, Sandringham VIC 3191

Cost: $60 for non-members

Highlight: We were given show bags that featured a range of products designed to help women pamper themselves.

Hot tip: Be ready to discuss franchising and get to the event early so you can fit in networking.